Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; August 28, 2014)

Filmmaker Homi Adajania says you forced him to cast you in his film, Finding Fanny.
True, I am not his favourite artiste. I threatened him, saying that I’ll write his name in the suicide note if he didn’t remedy this right away. But seriously, I simply love him and his talent. He is fantabulous. I did a brilliant film with him called Being Cyrus, and since then I’ve been a fan. I think he brings out the best in me.

How did Finding Fanny happen?
He narrated the film’s story during the making of Cocktail and I told him that I’d rather do this film than that. After the success of Cocktail, I thought that he wouldn’t come back to me. But I am glad he did — I got to work with stalwarts like Naseersaab and Pankaj Kapoor and talented youngsters such as Deepika (Padukone) and Arjun ( Kapoor). I felt rusty among them, but Homi looked out for me.

How would you describe this phase of your career?
It is a very interesting phase and I am getting some lovely offers. Sometimes I don’t feel like one in a film; that would be Rudaali (1992). The point is that it doesn’t matter how you look, what matters is you look the character and try your best to play the part.

The Censor Board has edited out one of your scenes in the film; the one with the butt…
I think they wanted to see me in a bikini, but since I had a skirt on, they decided to cut the scene.

What was it like to work with your son-in-law Akshay Kumar?
I did one film with him, Patiala House. He is very keen that I work and keeps telling me, “Maa, kaam karo" — he knows that I’m very laidback. If he has something interesting to offer, he tells me about it, but my first answer is no. Javed Akhtar jokes that if there is a bowl that has four chits with ‘yes’ written on them and one with a ‘no’, then Dimple will pick up the ‘no’ in a heartbeat. I have done a lot of mistakes, but I have no regrets — be it in films or personal life. I am an introvert and like to be left alone.

Do you think your daughters Twinkle and Rinkie should’ve continued acting?
No, I think they are doing a good job of whatever they have chosen to do — they have a good life and good kids.

Do you think Aarav has a starry streak in him?
I don’t know about that, but I know that Kakaji (Rajesh Khanna) has predicted that he’ll be the next superstar. When Kakaji predicts something, it comes true. He had seen me at a party once and said the same about me.

Don’t you think Vardan Aashirwaad should be declared a heritage structure?
It belongs to my children now, and it’s their birthright. That’s all I have to say about this.